Palmer wins to force winner-take-all 8-10 Sandlot finale

WILBRAHAM – Lead-off batter Joey Lombardi said the Palmer Cyclones hit well some games and don’t hit well other games.

The Cyclones sure hit well Tuesday night, so much so they forced a winner-take-all showdown.

Palmer’s bat took control of the game right from the start as the Cylcones beat the Wilbraham Falcons-Lucas 15-6 at Memorial School in a must-win game in the 8-10 division of the 84th annual Republican Sandlot Tournament.

“Today we played our hardest to get to that championship tomorrow,” Lombardi said.

That championship is set for Wednesday at Memorial School in Wilbraham at 5:45.

Wilbraham could have claimed the 8-10 title Tuesday with a win, but now both teams have one loss in the double-elimination tournament. Wilbraham beat Palmer 5-1 in a second round game.

“Give credit to Palmer - they out-pitched us and out-hit us today,” Wilbraham coach Steve Lucas said. “We dug ourselves into a hole. Normally we’re able to bounce back from those deficits, but today it wasn’t in the cards. We’re looking forward to a very competitive game tomorrow.”

Trevor Blackburn’s three-run homer over the 170-foot mark in center field in the top of the first set the tone of the game.

“When I swung I really didn’t think it was going over because it didn’t look like it, but everyone started screaming so I thought, ‘It must have gone over’,” Blackburn said.

And the Cylcones didn’t stop, scoring four more runs in the second, one in the third, and seven in the fourth to go ahead 15-1.

“Our hitting goes back and forth,” said Lombardi, who also gave up just one run in three innings of pitching. “Some games we hit real well and some games we won’t. We hit the heck out of the ball today.”

Adam Przybycien keyed Palmer’s four-run second with a two-run single. The Cyclones sent 12 batters to the plate in the fourth, with Lombardi, Blackburn and Przybycien coming through with RBI singles.

Wilbraham struck for four runs in the fifth, highlighted by a two-run single from Ben Dunklee, but Palmer reliever Jake Riel closed the door in the sixth.

Przybycien finished 4 for 4 with three RBI for Palmer, and Brandon Lafrennie was 3 for 4. Eight of the Cyclones’ nine batters had a hit.

Jack Dunklee went 3 for 3 for Wilbraham, including a double and an RBI single.

After the game, Palmer coach Steve Tripp won the coin toss and selected the Cyclones to be the home team Wednesday.